August 31, 2021. My article “Why Do You Need a Genuine Toner in the Office?” was published on IT-World.
According to Gartner Group, office printing costs companies an average of 5 to 15% of their total cash turnover. That’s a significant number — and it’s exactly why so many organizations reach for third-party toner as a quick way to cut costs. I get it. But in this article I made the case that this particular shortcut tends to be far more expensive than it looks.
Here’s what actually happens when you use counterfeit or non-original consumables.
The toner residue can settle on the fuser roller or drum, cause erosion, and damage the device’s internal mechanisms. Poor-quality powder may clog print heads due to insufficient heat or improper adhesion to paper. The result shows up on every page: streaks, smudges, blurry images, ink that stays wet. These aren’t occasional quirks — they’re the predictable outcome of using materials that weren’t designed for the device.
A Kyocera study found that around 10% of documents printed with non-original toner show poor print quality, and in most cases counterfeit consumables run out faster than genuine ones. So you’re not just getting worse quality — you’re getting less of it.
There’s also a health dimension that rarely gets mentioned. Reputable manufacturers develop their toner formulations in compliance with strict environmental and safety standards, ensuring the materials don’t contain chemically active substances that could harm users. Counterfeit products offer no such guarantees — and the consequences can range from respiratory irritation to more serious conditions.
And when it comes to the device itself: original consumables are engineered to work at the temperatures and tolerances the printer was designed for. Non-original toner often requires higher fusing temperatures, which puts additional stress on the machine and accelerates wear — which in turn leads to repairs, downtime, and costs that quickly dwarf whatever was saved on the cartridge.
The conclusion is simple: what looks like savings at the point of purchase usually isn’t. Genuine consumables protect the equipment, the quality of your documents, the health of your employees, and the environment. That’s not a marketing pitch — it’s just arithmetic.